Warner: There are 70 Votes in US Senate for Debt Deal

November 8, 2012

A comprehensive deal that would dramatically lower America’s massive federal debt and stave off massive defense cuts would get 70 votes in the Senate, says a key member of that chamber’s Budget Committee.

Sen. Mark Warner, told a forum in Washington on Thursday that a massive deal with spending cuts, new revenues and entitlement program reforms could garner ample votes from both political parties to pass the Senate.

Lawmakers in coming months must pass a $1.2 trillion debt-reduction measure and extend some tax cuts, or the nation will plunge into a new recession, economists say.

What’s more, shy of that kind of deal, twin $500 billion cuts to planned defense and domestic spending would kick in Jan. 2. Pentagon officials, lawmakers and analysts warn those defense cuts — made by cutting around 9 percent from a few non-exempt accounts — would harm national security.